Improvement in the manufacture of tobacco paper



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

P. M. CON'SUEGRA AND RAMON ANTIGUEDAD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TOBACCO PAPER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 86,368, dated February2, 1869.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, I. M. CONSUEGRA andRAMON AN'rIGiiEnAn, of the city and county of New York, in the State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in theManufacture of Tobacco Paper; and we do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof.

The paper is intended mainly for use as envelopes for cigarettes; but itmay be used for the bodies of cigarettes, for the wrappers or filling ofcigars, cartridges for pipes, and as an envelope for woolen and furclothing, to preserve from moth, and in any other situa tion.

A demand for paper made of pure tobacco has long been felt, and effortshave been made to produce such.

NVe have succeeded in producing paper of pure tobacco, and can retainthe whole or any desired port-ion of the strength of the tobacco in theproduct, overcoming all the difficulties due to the peculiar adhesivecharacter of such pulp.

We will proceed to describe what we believe to be the best mode ofcarrying out our invention, and will afterward designate the pointswhich we believe to be new.

In a late experimental production of one thousand pounds of paper, wetook Virginia tobacco, of fair quality, and boiled it six hours in asmall quantity of water. We then took out the tobacco, with a portion,we judge about half, of the water, and adding some fresh water,sufficient to make a proper flowing pulp, treated it from midnight untiltwo oclockthe next afternoon, in other words, fourteen hourscontinuously, in the ordinary heating or pulping engine of thepaper-mill. We treated the stems and leaves mingled, believing thecoarse fiber of the stems is useful in imparting valuable qualities tothe product. We then flowed out the pulp thus made in the ordinaryFoudrinier machine, but so adjusted as to produce a tolerably thickpaper, about like the medium brown paper used for wrapping purposes.

In passing the pulp through the Foudrinier machine we laid sheets ofpreviously-made common paper, or, better, similar paper, between thepulp and the several rollers, and thus avoided the difiieulty whichwould otherwise result from the adhesion of the peculiar material to therollers. These sheets of paper do not permanently adhere to the softpulp, but are easily separated therefrom after the sheet of pulphaspassedthe rollers. We found this proceeding more especially needed atthe commencement of the operation.

We found, after the machine was fairly work 7 ing, that the tenacity ofthe material was suflicient, ordinarily, to peel 0d the partially-formedpaper from the rollers; but whenever any difliculty arose from sticking.the attendant immediately introduced fresh sheets of paper, kept in adry condition at hand for the purpose. Thus, whenever inclined to stickto the rollers, the partially-formed paper was treated between theseveral rollers, not by contact with the rollers directly, but bycontact with the sheets of paper which were interposed between the pulpand the rollers. Paper may thus be used in continuous sheets of greatlength, and the interposition be made practically continuous; but wehave not found it 1 necessary, and believe it best to simply introduceit in sheets, as circumstances show it to be required, omitting it forsuch part of the time as the pulp can be induced to work withoutsticking.

We believe that our method will, with proper care, insure a reproductionof the new and val-- uable product obtained with proper precautions atany time.

By avoiding the introduction of alkalies or any chemicals, we can omitthe washing heretofore considered necessary, and preserve t1 e originalstrength of the tobacco in the leaf itself; and in the water in which itis softened we can, by using the whole or any desireu quantity of thewater from the tank or kettle in the pulping-engine, retain the whole orany desired portion of the strength of the tobacco in the final paper.

VVe can, by employing a longer time in the preparatory stage, soften thetobacco in tour or tepid water in stead of boiling it; and we have triedthe employment of satin as an agent with success, believing that wesoften the ma tcrial a little sooner with steam than with boiling water.It is essential, simply, to this stage of our process, that we soften itby the use of water or watery vapor without chemicals, and

nal intimate relations without distillation orother change.

'We do not claim separating the extractive matter, and again reinfusingit after the paper is finished, as it is well known that difl'er entproperties are imparted by such treatment, and the article therebyproduced is inferior; but

Eiaving now fully described our invention,

what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is asfollows:

The within-described method or process of producing paper from tobaccowith the whole or any portion of the, strength'retained, as herein setforth.

P. M. CONSUEGB'A, RAMON ANTIGUEDAD.

- v Witnesses:

W. 0. DIN, G. O; LrvINGs,

